Method of controlling digital photographing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A method of controlling a digital photographing apparatus to enlarge and reproduce an image is provided. The method includes determining whether an instruction is given in an image reproduction mode, dividing the input image into a predetermined number of blocks when it is determined that the instruction is given, enlarging the small image corresponding to a specific block from among the predetermined number of blocks, and displaying the enlarged small image on an entire screen.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/011,008,filed on Dec. 13, 2004, which claims the benefit of Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2003-0091341, filed on Dec. 15, 2003 in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of controlling a digitalphotographing apparatus (e.g., a digital camera), and more particularly,to a method of controlling a digital photographing apparatus thatreceives an image having a resolution with a first pixel number anddisplays a display image on a displaying unit having a resolution with asecond pixel number.

The method of controlling the digital photographing apparatus of thepresent invention can be adopted in any digital photographing apparatusthat captures and stores images in addition to digital cameras. In thepresent application, a digital camera is used as a typical example inwhich the present invention can be adopted.

2. Description of the Related Art

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a conventional digital camera 1.Referring to FIG. 1, the digital camera 1 includes on its front surface,a microphone MIC, a self-timer lamp 11, a flash 12, a shutter button 13,a mode dial 14, a function-select button 15, a photograph informationdisplay unit 16, a view finder 17 a, a function-block button 18, aflash-light amount sensor (FS) 19, a lens unit 20, and an externalinterface unit 21.

When in a self-timer mode, the self-timer lamp 11 operates when theshutter button 13 is pressed until a shutter (not shown) operates. Themode dial 14 is used to select one of various operating modes, forexample, a still image photographing mode, a night scene photographingmode, a moving picture photographing mode, a reproducing mode, acomputer connecting mode, and a system setting mode. The function-selectbutton 15 is used to select one of the operating modes, for example, astill image photographing mode, a night scene photographing mode, amoving picture photographing mode, or a reproducing mode. The photographinformation displaying unit 16 displays various information regardingeach function related to photographing. The function-block button 18 isused to select one of the functions displayed on the photographinformation display unit 16.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the digital camera 1 of FIG. 1. Referring toFIG. 2, a speaker SP, a power button 31, a monitor button 32, anautomatic focus lamp 33, a view finder 17 b, a flash standby lamp 34, acolor liquid crystal display (LCD) panel 35, a confirm/delete button 36,an enter/play button 37, a menu button 38, a wide-angle zoom button 39w, a telephoto zoom button 39 t, an up-movement button 40 up, aright-movement button 40 ri, a down-movement button 40 do, and aleft-movement button 40 le are included on the back of the digitalcamera 1.

The monitor button 32 is used to control the operation of the color LCDpanel 35. For example, if the user presses the monitor button 32 a firsttime, an image of a subject and photographing information is displayedon the color LCD panel 35; when the monitor button 32 is pressed asecond time, only the image of the subject is displayed on the color LCDpanel 35; and when the monitor button 32 is pressed a third time, powersupplied to the color LCD panel 35 is blocked. The automatic focus lamp33 operates when an automatic focusing operation is completed. The flashstandby lamp 34 operates when the flash 12 (see FIG. 1) is on standby.The confirm/delete button 36 is used as a confirm or delete button inthe process in which a user sets one of the modes. The enter/play button37 is used to input data or perform various functions such as stop orplay in the reproducing mode. The menu button 38 is used to display amenu of a mode selected from the mode dial 14. The up-movement button 40up, the right-movement button 40 ri, the down-movement button 40 do, andthe left-movement button 40 le are used in the process in which a userselects one of the modes.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a structure of a surface of the digitalcamera 1 of FIG. 1 on which light is incident. FIG. 4 is a block diagramof the digital camera 1 of FIG. 1.

An optical system OPS including the lens unit 20 and a filter unit 41optically processes light reflected from a subject. The lens unit 20 ofthe optical system OPS includes a zoom lens ZL, a focus lens FL, and acompensation lens CL.

If a user presses the wide-angle zoom button 39 w (see FIG. 2) or thetelephoto zoom button 39 t (see FIG. 2) included in a user inputtingunit INP, a signal corresponding to the wide-angle zoom button 39 w orthe telephoto zoom button 39 t is input to a micro-controller 512.Accordingly, as the micro-controller 512 controls a lens driving unit510, a zoom motor M_(Z) operates, thereby moving the zoom lens ZL. Thatis, if the wide-angle zoom button 39 w is pressed, the focal length ofthe zoom lens ZL is shortened, and thus increases a viewing angle. Onthe other hand, if the telephoto zoom button 39 t is pressed, the focallength of the zoom lens ZL is lengthened, and thus decreases a viewingangle. According to the above-mentioned characteristics, themicro-controller 512 can calculate a viewing angle based on the locationof the zoom lens ZL from design data of the optical system OPS. Sincethe location of the focus lens FL is altered while the location of thezoom lens ZL is fixed, the viewing angle is hardly affected by thelocation of the focus lens FL.

When the focus on a subject is automatically or manually fixed, thecurrent location of the focus lens FL changes with respect to a distanceDc to a subject. Since the location of the focus lens FL is changed whenthe location of the zoom lens ZL is fixed, the distance Dc to thesubject is affected by the location of the zoom lens ZL. In theautomatic focusing mode, the micro-controller 512 controls the lensdriving unit 510, thereby driving a focus motor M_(F). Accordingly, thefocus lens FL moves from the very front to the very back. In thisprocess, a number of steps of the location of the focus lens FL (e.g., anumber of location steps of the focus motor M_(F)) are set at which anamount of high frequency in an image signal is increased the most.

The compensation lens CL is not separately operated since it acts tocompensate for the overall refractive index.

A motor M_(A) drives an aperture (not shown). A rotation angle of theaperture driving motor M_(A) depends on whether the digital camera 1 isin a specified area exposure mode or in another mode. In the specifiedexposure mode, when a part of a subject region desired by a usercoincides with a specified detected region displayed on the color LCDpanel 35 of the digital camera 1, a light amount of the digital camera 1is set to a mean brightness value of the specified detected region.

An optical low pass filter (OLPF) included in the filter unit 41 of theoptical system OPS removes optical noise with a high frequency. Aninfrared cut filter (IRF) included in the filter unit 41 blocks infraredcomponents of incident light.

A photoelectric converter OEC of a charge-coupled device (CCD) or acomplementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) (not shown) convertslight from the optical system OPS into an electrical analog signal.Here, a digital signal processor (DSP) 507 controls a timing circuit 502and controls the operation of the photoelectric converter OEC and acorrelation double sampler and analog-to-digital converter (CDS-ADC)device 501. The CDS-ADC device 501, which is an ADC, processes theanalog signal output from the photoelectric converter OEC, and convertsit into a digital signal after removing high frequency noise from theanalog signal and altering the bandwidth of the analog signal. The DSP507 processes the digital signal from the CDS-ADC device 501, andgenerates a digital image signal divided into a chrominance signal and aluminance signal.

A light emitting unit LAMP that is operated by the micro-controller 512includes the self-timer lamp 11, the automatic focus lamp 33 (see FIG.2), and the flash standby lamp 34 (see FIG. 2). The user inputting unitINP includes the shutter button 13 (see FIG. 1), the mode dial 14 (seeFIG. 1), the function-select button 15 (see FIG. 1), the function-blockbutton 18 (see FIG. 1), the monitor button 32 (see FIG. 2), theconfirm/delete button 36 (see FIG. 2), the enter/play button 37 (seeFIG. 2), the menu button 38 (see FIG. 2), the wide-angle zoom button 39w (see FIG. 2), the telephoto zoom button 39 t, the up-movement button40 up (see FIG. 2), the right-movement button 40 ri (see FIG. 2), thedown-movement button 40 do (see FIG. 2), and the left-movement button 40le (see FIG. 2).

The digital image signal output from the DSP 507 is temporarily storedin a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) 504. Algorithms needed for theoperation of the DSP 507 and for setting data are stored in anelectrically erasable and programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) 505. Amemory card is inserted into a memory card interface (MCI) 506.

The digital image signal output from the DSP 507 is input to an LCDdriving unit 514. As a result, an image is displayed on the color LCDpanel 35.

The digital image signal output from the DSP 507 can be transmitted in aseries communication via a universal serial bus (USB) connector 21 a oran RS232C interface 508 and its connector 21 b, or can be transmitted asa video signal via a video filter 509 and a video outputting unit 21 c.

An audio processor 513 outputs an audio signal from the microphone MICto the DSP 507 or the speaker SP, and outputs an audio signal from theDSP 507 to the speaker SP.

The micro-controller 512 controls the operation of a flash controller511 according to a signal output from the FS 19, and thus operates theflash 12.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling photographingof the micro-controller 512 illustrated in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 5, the shutter button 13 included in theuser inputting unit INP has a two-step structure. That is, if a userpresses the shutter button 13 to a first step after the user operatesthe wide-angle zoom button 39 w or the telephoto zoom button 39 t, afirst signal S1 output from the shutter button 13 is activated, and ifthe shutter release button 13 is pressed to a second step, a secondsignal S2 output from the shutter button 13 is activated. Therefore, thealgorithm for controlling photographing illustrated in FIG. 5 startswhen the shutter release button 13 is pressed up to the first step(Operation 101). Here, the current location of the zoom lens ZL isalready set.

Remaining storage space of the memory card is detected (Operation 102),and it is determined whether the storage space is sufficient to record adigital image (Operation 103). If there is not enough storage space, amessage indicating a lack of storage space in the memory card isdisplayed (Operation 104). If there is enough storage space, thefollowing operations are performed.

Automatic white balance (AWB) is performed, and parameters related tothe AWB process are set (Operation 105). Then, automatic exposure (AE)is performed in which a brightness of incident light is calculated, andthe aperture driving motor M_(A) is operated according to the calculatedbrightness amount (Operation 106). Then, automatic focusing isperformed, and the location of the focus lens FL is set (Operation 107).

Then, it is determined whether a first signal S1, which is a signalgenerated when the shutter button 13 is at a first step, is activated(Operation 108). If the first signal S1 is inactivated, the user has nointention of photographing, and thus, a perform-program is terminated.If the first signal S1 is activated, the following operations areperformed.

First, it is determined whether the second signal S2 is activated(Operation 109). If the second signal S2 is not activated, the user hasnot pressed the shutter button 13 to the second step for photographing,and thus the method moves to operation 106.

If the second signal S2 is activated, a photographing operation isperformed since the user has pressed the shutter button 13 to the secondstep for photographing. That is, the micro-controller 512 operates theDSP 507, and the timing circuit 502 operates the photoelectric converterOEC and the CDS-ADS 501. Then, image data is compressed (Operation 111),and a compressed image file is generated (Operation 112). After thegenerated image file is stored in the memory card via the MCI 506 fromthe DSP 507 (Operation 113), the method is completed.

For reference, Japanese Patent Publication No. hei 11-196301, titled“Electronic Camera Device,” discloses an electronic camera device inwhich the state of an image, for example, a focusing or a shaking of theimage at the moment of photographing, can be easily checked.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6B′, and 6C are views illustrating a conventional methodof controlling a digital photographing apparatus to enlarge an image tocheck a focus of the image.

Referring to FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6B′, and 6C, in the conventional method ofcontrolling the digital photographing apparatus, a predetermined regionof an image displayed on an image displaying device 35 is set as a focuszone before photographing the image. After displaying an enlarged focuszone, a user focuses the image or presses a shutter switch to performphotographing.

To do so, first, a focus frame 61 for checking the focus of the image isdisplayed inside a monitor image 60 of the subject, which is displayedon the image displaying device 35, in a recording mode (FIG. 6A). Then,a portion of the image inside the focus frame 61 is automatically ormanually at a command of the user enlarged, and displayed on the entirescreen 62 or on a portion 63 of the screen (FIGS. 6B and 6B′). Then, theuser checks whether the image is in focus by looking at the enlargedimage, changes the focus if necessary, and performs photographing, andthus a photographed image 64 is displayed (FIG. 6C).

Image sensors used in digital photographing apparatuses have anincreasing number of pixels due to advancements in technology, and thesize of an LCD display window, which is an image displaying device, isbecoming smaller due to the miniaturization of digital photographingapparatuses. Therefore, there is a large difference between theresolutions of the image sensor and the LCD display window, which is theimage displaying device.

However, in the conventional method of controlling the digitalphotographing apparatus, the focus region is simply enlarged anddisplayed and resolutions of an image sensor and the image displayingdevice are not considered. Thus, it is difficult to achieve a goodeffect in the situation in which there is a large difference between theresolutions of the image sensor and the LCD display window as the imagedisplaying device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method of controlling a digitalphotographing apparatus that can check the quality of a photographedimage by enlarging a portion of the photographed image and displaying iton an image displaying device after photographing considering thedifference between the resolution of an image sensor and the resolutionof the image displaying device.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod of controlling a digital photographing apparatus in which aportion of an input image is enlarged and displayed as a display imageon an image displaying unit so that a user may determine the clarity ofthe input image, the digital photographing apparatus receiving the inputimage having a resolution of a first pixel number and displaying thedisplay image on the image displaying unit having a resolution of asecond pixel number. The method includes: receiving the input image;setting an enlarged display region that is to be enlarged from the inputimage, dividing the enlarged display region into at least two displayimages, and continually displaying the display images on the imagedisplay unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of controlling a digital photographing apparatus in which aportion of an input image is enlarged and displayed as a display imageon an image displaying unit so that a user may determine the clarity ofthe input image, the digital photographing apparatus receiving the inputimage having a resolution of a first pixel number and displaying thedisplay image on the image displaying unit having a resolution of asecond pixel number. The method includes: receiving the input image;determining whether to enlarge the input image; setting a portion of theinput image that is to be enlarged as an enlarged display region havinga resolution of a third pixel number; calculating a number of displayframes that are to be displayed on the image displaying unit by dividingthe third pixel number by the second pixel number and rounding theresult to an integer, and dividing the enlarged display region into thedisplay images according to the number of the display frames; anddisplaying the display images on the image displaying unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodimentsthereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a conventional digital camera;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the digital camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a structure of a surface of the digitalcamera of FIG. 1 on which light is incident;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the digital camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling photographingof a micro-controller illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6B′, and 6C are views illustrating a conventional methodof controlling a digital photographing apparatus to enlarge a screen tocheck a focus of an image;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a digitalphotographing apparatus according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying an enlargedimage in the method of controlling the digital camera illustrated inFIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a view schematically illustrating the displaying of theenlarged image of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a setting of an enlarged display regionin the displaying of the enlarged image described in FIG. 8

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating dividing of the enlarged display regioninto display images in the displaying of the enlarged image described inFIG. 8; and

FIGS. 12A through 12D are views illustrating the displaying of therespective divided display images in FIG. 11 in an automatic slide show.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of theinvention are shown. The description of a digital photographingapparatus with reference to FIGS. 1 through 5 also applies to alldigital photographing apparatuses in embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method 200 of controlling a digitalphotographing apparatus according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 7, in the method 200, the digital photographingapparatus receives an input image having a first resolution and displaysa display image on an image displaying unit having a second resolution.A portion of the input image is enlarged and displayed as the displayimage on the image displaying unit so that a user may determine theclarity of the input image.

To do this, the digital photographing apparatus receives an input image(S201). Then, a portion of the input image that is to be enlarged is setas an enlarged display region, the enlarged display region is dividedinto at least two display images, and the display images are continuallydisplayed on an image displaying unit (S203). The method may furtherinclude an operation of determining whether to enlarge the input image(S202).

In the present embodiment, the input image is input from the outside byphotographing in operation S201. The input image may be input via animage sensor (a charge-coupled device (CCD)) as in a conventionaldigital photographing apparatus, and the image sensor has a firstresolution.

Although the input image is input from the outside by photographing inoperation S201 in the present embodiment, an input image may be obtainedfrom the outside from an external device, and the obtained image may beinput as image data via a data input/output unit in operation S201. Inthis case, in order to apply the method 200 of controlling the digitalphotographing apparatus according to the present invention, the inputimage data has the first resolution.

In addition, the image data may be stored in a predetermined storagemedium or a pre-photographed image may be stored as image data, and thestored input image may be checked by displaying the input image on theimage displaying unit through the manipulation of the user. OperationS203 may be performed by the manipulation of the user that makes theinput image to be displayed on the image displaying unit.

When desiring to display the photographed input image or the input imagestored in the storage on the image displaying unit in advance, whetherto display the enlarged input image or not may be set as a default.

In operation S202, when displaying the input image on the imagedisplaying unit using a setting, whether to enlarge and display theimage can be determined. In this case, when not enlarging and displayingthe input image according to the determination result of S202, the inputimage having the first resolution is converted into an image having asecond resolution and displayed on the image displaying unit in S204.

Since an image sensor used in a digital photographing apparatus usuallyhas a higher number of pixels due to the advancement in technology, andthe size of a liquid crystal display (LCD) display window, which is animage displaying device, is becoming more limited due to theminiaturizing of the digital photographing apparatus. Therefore, thefirst pixel number is higher than the second pixel number in many cases,and thus an input image with a high resolution is not properly displayedon the image displaying unit that has a lower resolution than the inputimage. Therefore, there is a limit in properly recognizing the clarityof the input image only with the image displayed on the image displayingunit.

The image displaying unit maybe a display device such as an LCD or anorganic electro luminescent may be used. In the present embodiment, anLCD panel is used.

In operation S203, when enlarging and displaying the input imageaccording to the determination result from operation S202, a portion ofthe input image that is to be enlarged is set as the enlarged displayregion. The enlarged display region is divided into at least two displayimages, and is continually displayed on the image displaying unit. Thedisplaying of the enlarged input image in operation S203 will bedescribed in more detail with reference to FIG. 8. In this case, each ofthe display images may be automatically displayed continually using anautomatic slide show, as illustrated in FIG. 8.

In operation S203, one of the divided display images is displayed on theimage displaying unit, and each of the display images selected by aninput from the outside, for example, by the user, may be manuallydisplayed.

When enlarging a portion of the input image and displaying it on theimage displaying unit in operation S203, an entire input image may bereduced and displayed on a portion of the image displaying unit on whichthe display image is displayed. Here, the input image may be surroundedby, for example, a quadrangular line so that it is distinguishable fromthe display image. The reducing of the entire input image and displayingit on the portion of the image displaying unit is as illustrated inFIGS. 9 and 12.

The displaying of the entire input image on the portion of the imagedisplaying unit is used to indicate which portion of the entire inputimage is currently displayed as the display image on the imagedisplaying unit.

The enlarged display region of the input image is divided into at leasttwo display images and displayed in operation S203 so that the user maydetermine the clarity of the input image from the display imagedisplayed on the image displaying unit. Here, the clarity of the imagemay be affected by how much the focus, a white balance, an amount ofexposure, the shaking of the hands etc., were controlled. If the clarityof the image is reduced, the quality of the image becomes poorer.

That is, when reproducing the photographed image on the image displayingunit and checking the photographed image in the present embodiment, theimage is enlarged and reproduced in consideration of the resolution ofthe input image and the resolution of the image displaying unit, andthus making it easier for the user to determine the clarity of the inputimage. An image photographed when it is difficult to focus the image(e.g., when the hand shakes, the surrounding is dark, a manual focus isset, or a near subject is photographed) may be blurred. Even when theimage appears to be well focused on the image displaying unit of thedigital photographing apparatus, the clarity of the image may still bepoor when displaying the image on an external displaying device having amuch higher resolution than the image displaying unit.

In this case, a specific region (i.e., a focus zone) of the input imageis enlarged and displayed to easily check the clarity of the inputimage, or the user may easily check the clarity of the input image usinga digital zoom.

In addition, the method 200 of controlling the digital photographingapparatus may further include deleting the input image when the clarityof the display image is not satisfactory according to the determinationof the user. That is, first, the specific region of the input image isenlarged and displayed so that the user may check the clarity of theinput image. Then, when the input image does not have a satisfactoryclarity according to the determination of the user and the user desiresto delete the currently checked input image, the input image may bedeleted.

Furthermore, after checking the clarity of the input image using themethod 200 of controlling the digital photographing apparatus, a processof deleting the input image if the clarity of the display image is lowerthan a standard clarity may be performed automatically by the digitalphotographing apparatus. The clarity can be determined based on a focus,a white balance, an amount of exposure etc., and a satisfactory claritymay be pre-set as the standard clarity.

To do so, first, it is determined whether the input image is to bedeleted by the selection of the user (S205). In the case it is set forthe user to delete the input image, the input image is deleted (S206).The input image that does not have a desired quality is deleted so thata new input image may be obtained.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the displaying the enlarged image(S203) in the method 200 of controlling the digital camera of FIG. 7.FIG. 9 is a view schematically illustrating the displaying of theenlarged image (S203) of FIG. 8.

Referring to FIGS. 7 through 9, in the method 200, the digitalphotographing apparatus receives the input signal having the firstresolution and displays the display image on the image displaying unithaving the second resolution. A portion of the input image is enlargedand displayed on the image displaying unit so that the user candetermine the clarity of the input image.

The method 200 of controlling the digital photographing apparatusincludes receiving the input image (S201), and determining whether toenlarge the input image (S202). The operation S203 of displaying theenlarged image includes setting a portion of the input image that is tobe enlarged as an enlarged display region having a resolution of a thirdpixel number (S301); dividing the second pixel number by the third pixelnumber, rounding the result to the nearest integer, calculating thenumber of display frames that is to be displayed on the displaying unit,and dividing the enlarged display region into display images accordingto the number of the display frames (S303); and displaying each of thedisplay images on the image display unit (S304, S305, and S306).

In operation S301, the portion of the input image that is to be enlargedis set as the enlarged display region, which has the resolution with thethird number pixel. That is, the third pixel number expresses the sizeof the enlarged display region in pixel numbers.

The enlarged display region may be set in a variety of ways in operationS301. When enlarging and displaying the enlarged display region, aregion in which the user can readily determine the clarity of the inputimage can be set as the enlarged display region. Here, the user maypersonally set the enlarged display region via a user input unit of thedigital photographing apparatus.

As an example of the method of setting the enlarged display region ofS301, an input image can be divided into at least two regions, and aregion having the most edges may be set as an enlarged display region.That is, the divided regions are examined and a region with the mostedge information is found and set as the enlarged display region.

Also in operation S301, when a face of a person is included in an inputimage, the face region may be set as the enlarged display region. Here,color information of the input image can be extracted and the face canbe detected by comparing the color information with a face tone of ageneral person, and it can be determined whether the face of a person isincluded in the input image.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, in the methodof setting the enlarged display region of S301, a focus zone foradjusting a focus when automatically focusing, which is used in aconventional method of controlling a digital photographing apparatus,may be set as an enlarged display region.

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating the setting of the enlarged displayregion (S301) in the displaying of the enlarged input image described inFIG. 8. In the present embodiment, the whole input image is displayed onthe image displaying unit, and the user may select how far a region tobe enlarged and displayed is from the center of the input image. Forexample, a region corresponding to, for example, 1/9, 1/16, and 1/25region from the center of the input image may be selected as an enlargeddisplay region.

In operation S303, the enlarged display region set in operation S301 isdivided into at least two display images. A number of display framesthat are to be formed is calculated from the third pixel number of theenlarged display region and the second pixel number of the imagedisplaying unit, and the enlarged display region is divided into equalnumber of display images and display frames. Here, the number of displayframes can be calculated by dividing the third pixel number by thesecond pixel number and rounding the result into an integer. The resultcan be rounded to the nearest whole number, rounded up or rounded down.

Also, the method 200 of controlling the digital photographing mayfurther include setting a displaying ratio of a pixel number of an inputimage that is to be displayed on the image displaying unit and a pixelnumber of a display image that is displayed on the image displaying unit(S302). Here, the displaying ratio may be a ratio of a pixel number ofan input image that is to be displayed on the image displaying unit anda pixel number of a display image that is displayed on the imagedisplaying unit in which 1:1 displaying ratio is preferable.

Operation S302 is further included in case the user desires to check afurther enlarged image simultaneously, and thus the user may select toperform operation S302. For example, the display ratio may be 1:1, 2:1,3:1, . . . , n:1, or set by the user.

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating the dividing of the enlarged displayregion into display images in the displaying of the enlarged input imagedescribed in FIG. 8. In this case, when further including operationS302, the number of the display frames is calculated by dividing thethird pixel number by the second pixel number, multiplying the result bya display ratio n, and then rounding the result into an integer inoperation S303.

Here, it may be difficult to reproduce the set enlarged display regionin the selected display ratio in a single operation. For example, when2/5 of an input image is selected to be displayed after being enlargedin a 1:1 ratio, when the size of the input image is 1,000,000 pixels andthe size of an LCD is 100,000 pixels, 2/5 of the 1,000,000 pixels, thatis, 400,000 pixels, is divided into four display frames, each having100,000 pixels, and the four display frames are reproduced.

The display images are displayed on the image displaying unit inoperations S304, S305, and S306. In operation S304, a method ofdisplaying the display images is determined, in operation S305, thedisplay images are displayed in an automatic slide show, and inoperation S306, the display images are manually displayed.

In operation S304, whether to display the display images in theautomatic slide show or manually display the display images isdetermined from a default setting. When photographing using the digitalphotographing apparatus and checking the photographed image, a user mayselect whether to use a function in which an enlarged display region isautomatically enlarged according to a photographing condition.

In operation S305, the display images are sequentially displayed on theimage displaying unit when the automatic slide show is selected inoperation S304.

The configuration of enlargement reproduction, the enlarged displayregion, the enlargement ratio, the method of displaying, etc. is set bya user with a menu. If the enlarged display function is to be performedon the enlarged display region of a photographed image, the image isphotographed as described in FIG. 8, immediately an entire image isbriefly shown, and the enlarged display region is enlarged and displayedaccording to the settings. Here, the enlarged display function performedon the enlarged display region is selected when a photographingcondition is in a manual focus control mode, when a near subject isbeing photographed, when photographing using a telephoto zoom, when over1/30 second of exposure is needed, etc.

In operation S305, it is preferable that a display image at the centerof the enlarged display region is displayed on the image displayingunit, and the display images in the clockwise direction are sequentiallydisplayed on the image displaying unit in the enlarged display region.In FIG. 9, which schematically illustrates the displaying of theenlarged image (S203) described in FIG. 8, an entire input image isdivided into regions using vertical and horizontal lines as shown, andregions labeled 1 through 9 sequentially are set as the enlarged displayregion.

In each of operations S305 and S306, region 1 is first enlarged anddisplayed on the entire image displaying unit. In operation S305,display images of region 1 through 9 are sequentially displayed on theentire image displaying unit, which is in the clockwise direction fromthe center of the image displaying unit.

FIGS. 12A through 12D are views illustrating the displaying of therespective divided display images in FIG. 11 in the automatic slideshow. The region of the entire input image that is divided by dottedlines forming a quadrangle at the center thereof according to a settingis set as the enlarged display region. Then, the enlarged display regionis divided into regions by horizontal and vertical lines.

The display images shown in FIGS. 12A through 12D are sequentiallydisplayed on the entire image displaying unit in operation S305. In thiscase, the display images are sequentially displayed in thecounterclockwise direction. Also, when displaying the display images onthe image displaying unit using the automatic slide show, the slide showmay stop if an interruption occurs in the middle of the slide show.

In operation S306, when manually displaying the display images accordingto the determination result in operation S304, one of the divideddisplay images is displayed on the image displaying unit, and each ofthe display images selected by external input is displayed. Whenmanually displaying the display images according to the external input,a region selected by the user may be displayed and not the images indisplay frame units which are formed in operation S303.

That is, when manual display is selected, a center frame is reproducedand an image may be displayed in a pre-set pitch units, and not frameunits, by moving the enlarged display region little by little to adesired direction using user operating keys.

As illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 12A through 12D, when enlarging a portionof the input image and displaying the display images on the imagedisplaying unit in operations S305 and S306, the entire input image canbe reduced and displayed on a portion of the image displaying unit onwhich the display images are displayed. The reduced entire input imagecan be surrounded by, for example, a quadrangular line so that it isdistinguishable from the display image. The reduced entire input imageis displayed to indicate which part of the entire input image thedisplay image is taken from and displayed on the image displaying unit.

In addition, the method 200 of controlling the digital photographingapparatus can be adopted in a digital photographing apparatus accordingto an embodiment the present invention.

As described above, in a method of controlling a digital photographingapparatus according to the present invention, a portion of aphotographed image is enlarged and displayed on an image display devicein consideration of a difference in a resolution of an image sensor anda resolution of the image displaying device. Thus, a user may check thequality of the photographed image and may conveniently determinedwhether the photographed image has the quality the user desires. Inaddition, the user may easily determine, for example, the clarity of thephotographed image or whether the photographed image is well focused.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the following claims.

1. A method of controlling a digital photographing apparatus to enlargeand reproduce an image, the method comprising: determining whether aninstruction is given in an image reproduction mode, the instructioncomprising dividing an input image into a number of blocks and enlarginga small image corresponding to a block for reproduction; dividing theinput image into a predetermined number of blocks when it is determinedthat the instruction is given; and enlarging the small imagecorresponding to a specific block from among the predetermined number ofblocks, and displaying the enlarged small image on an entire screen. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined number of blocks is setaccording to a user's instructions.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe predetermined number of blocks is automatically set according to aresolution of the input image.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thedividing the input image further comprises displaying an indicationimage corresponding to the input image on a predetermined location ofthe screen.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the indication image ismade by scaling down the input image.
 6. The method of claim 4, whereinthe enlarging the small image corresponding to a specific block furthercomprises specifying a block selected from among the blocks of theindication image by locating a cursor on the selected block.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the cursor is shown by quadrangular line. 8.A method of controlling a digital photographing apparatus to enlarge andreproduce an image, the method comprising: determining whether aninstruction is given in an image reproduction mode, the instructioncomprising dividing an input image into a number of blocks and enlarginga small image corresponding to a block for reproduction; dividing theinput image into a predetermined number of blocks when it is determinedthat the instruction is given; and sequentially enlarging the smallimages corresponding to the predetermined number of blocks, andsequentially displaying the small enlarged images in the form of a slideshow.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the predetermined number ofblocks is set according to a user's instructions.
 10. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the predetermined number of blocks is automatically setaccording to a resolution of the input image.
 11. The method of claim 8,wherein the dividing the input image further comprises displaying anindication image corresponding to the input image on a predeterminedlocation of the screen.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein theindication image is made by scaling down the input image.
 13. The methodof claim 11, wherein the sequentially enlarging the small imagecorresponding to a specific block further comprises specifying a blockselected from among the blocks of the indication image by locating acursor on the selected block.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein thecursor is shown by quadrangular line.